St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-11
ST. PAUL'S OWN ASKING.
Circumstances Out Of Which
Grew the Invitation.
to the President
To Include the Sanity City
in the Circuit Of
His Travelling.
A Spontaneous Request From
Citizens Without Re-
gard to Party.

President Cleveland has travelled far
less than most men who have reached his
years and have had his experience in
public affairs, but before this year is
ended he bids fair to establish a good
record as tourist. Prior to assuming
the presidency, Mr.. Cleveland had never
been much further West than Buffalo,
for though he once started for Cleveland
when a young man, he did not finish
the trip. Washington was visited by
him but once before he came to
the White House, and that was in
1878, and he spent but a day at the
capital on private business. Travel was
not his forte, and although living so
close to New England, he had never been
among the Down casters until his visit
to Boston about a year ago.
According to his present programme,
however, ere Congress convenes in De
cember. the first Democratic President of
the United States in a quarter of cen
tury will traverse the country bounded
on the north by Canada and on the south
by the Atlantic ocean and Gulf of Mex
leo, and on the west by the line of Terri
tories that stretch across the continent to
the Pacific ocean. No President, except
General Grant, ever received such deIega-
tions or invitations as those that have
swarmed at Washington and deluged the
mails, invoking the presence of the coun-
try's ruler at the leading cities of the
Northwest, Southwest and South, and
pleasant feature of this demonstration is
that it is spontaneous and not confined to
any political party or group of wire pull
ers seeking personal aggrandizement, but
it comes direct from people of all sorts,
sizes, colors and conditions, irrespective
of party affiliations or religious creeds,
the paramount idea being one of honor to
the President of the United States. Nor
has any carping, captious critic been
found ready to designate the trip as po-
itical junket; and this fact has contrib
uted very greatly to induce the President
to go among his constituents so far from
his home; and it is understood that next
year he will embrace the opportunity af-
forded him to visit the Pacific slope, and
thus complete circuit of the country
whose destiny he holds in his hands.
Confinement even of the palace cars is
very
IRKSOME TO THE PRESIDENT,
and, whenever it is possible, he travels
at night. He is a sound sleeper in a car
however, but is in the habit of getting up
as soon as the faintest line of dawn
brightens the horizon. 1t was the pleas
ure of Senator Vest to outline in the col
umns of THE GLOBE early this summer the
course of travel that the President would
take in his desire to see more of the peo-
pie and country, but following upon this
came denunciation from certain So
called veterans of the war that for time
threatened to prevent, or at least post
pone, the contemplated Western visit.
But such roar of virtuous Indignation
rolled up from the cities of the West
deprecatory Of the action of the St. LOUIS
extremists that the President could not
ISSlSG tuc GOTrGllt, dIlu eventually recon-
sidered his determination not to visit the
place that wanted to be the capital of the
United States.
AS early as February &c of the pres
ent year Mayor David S. Francis, OF St.
Louis, addressed a communication to the
President, inviting him to be present at
that city some time between the 9th and
Both of last month when the National
Encampment of the Grand Army of the
Republic would be held there The Pres
ident delayed sending an answer to the
request for his attendance until the
Fourth of July, 1887, when he wrote a
declination of his verbal acceptance, as
signing as one reason that mem bers and
some posts of the Grand Army enter
tanned different feelings in respect to his
attendance from what he had anticipated
and he would not do anything that would
lead to discord in the organization as well
as an interruption of cordiality at the
encampment.
Subsequently, on the 18th of July, 1887,
Mayor Francis, of st. Louis, attended by
100 of the leading citizens of that place
and the State of Missouri, called upon the
President at Washington and extended
anew an invitation to come West this
fall, and this time the delegations efforts
were crowned with success.
THE PRESIDENT ACCEPTS